


Vivid Place

by Selah



Series: Deluhi [3]
Category: Diablo II, Heroes of the Storm (Video Game), Overwatch (Video Game), StarCraft
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Daddy Kink, F/M, M/M, Other, Season of Kink 2017, Telepathic Bond, Telepathic Sex, Telepathy, Tentacles, Threesome - F/M/M, Worldbuilding, headcanons galore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 03:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11842686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah
Summary: Just because Jim had permission doesn't mean he doesn't feel just a bit ... guilty. Some days Tassadar wonders if guilt isn't the default human state.





	Vivid Place

**Author's Note:**

> Yet more of my own headcanons on the Protoss, which may or may not (probably not) be canon compliant. As someone who's worked on translations, I couldn't resist using that to further the plot. Culture differences can be strong enough just between human societies, so... Also, I make no apologies for Hana's abuse of the word "fuck" and it's conjugates.  
> For Season of Kink 2017, free kink (tentacles).

As soon as James Raynor's vision cleared, he felt it again, that sharp stab of guilt. His first instinct was to try to suppress it all, but of course that was useless. And stupid. Even if it hadn't been at the front of his mind while Tassadar was helping him out of his suit, the templar would have known of it sooner or later.

And yet instead of anger or irritation or any of the things Raynor might have expected to get from telling a lover that he had cheated on him - with a teenaged girl, no less! - Tassadar's mental touch was warm with ... amusement? He must be more tired than he thought, because that ... that couldn't be right. Maybe he was already asleep and this was just a dream?

 _:You are not telling me anything I did not already know was coming,_ talandar _. Tyrael and his brethren exist beyond the bounds of linear time. D.va gives you something I cannot, why would I begrudge your happiness?:_

A little voice in the back of his head said this sort of thing was exactly why humans and aliens shouldn't mix. It had been stupid to think an alien could understand what he was feeling in all this. Stupid to think an alien could understand his feelings or share them in any meaningful way. Why should an alien care if Raynor was unfaithful? Could a Protoss even understand what he was feeling? Could a Protoss –.

 _:_ Talandar _, stop:_

Tassadar's mental voice interrupted his downward spiraling thoughts, such as they were, with ease, cool fingers brushing against his skin. A beat and then arms and neural tendrils both coiled around him, bringing him more fully into telepathic rapport with the templar. Guilt and doubt melted away as he was enfolded in Tassadar's feelings for him, the calmness and peace at the silent heart of the templar's love.

_:We are different, but also the same. You are precious to me, I want for you to have happiness, whatever form that takes. Is that not the true meaning of love?:_

Well, he couldn't very well argue with that. A heavy sigh as he let himself fall deeper into the stillness between them. He should shower and sleep, same as after any other match. His brain was making too much of his encounter with D.va, obviously. A moment of weakness, nothing more. It wasn't going to happen again, no matter what Tassadar said. He would see to it.

~*~*~

“Soooo ... what was it like?”

“What was what like?” Hana asked, pretending she had no idea what Lucio meant.

“Oh come _on_ , all you've been able to talk about since we landed in the Nexus was how _amazing_ it was to be face to face with the _heroes_ of StarCraft,” Lucio said, laughing. “And don't tell me this was just another match, same as any other, cuz I was there!”

“... sorry for shooting you so many times. And blowing you up twice. Again.”

“Hey, it's all good, that's how the Nexus rolls, baby. Never had one last that long before, though. Or have that weird pause in the not-quite-middle. Lady Sylvanas was so happy when it happened, I just found myself a quiet corner to hole up in and stayed our of her way. What about you? I saw you partnered up with your favorite Marine, right before you blew me up. So ... ten hours of night. With the Commander. How'd it go?”

“Oh, well, it was ... I slept through most of it, to be honest.”

“D.va!”

“What? It's exhausting, shooting you all the time!” she countered, winking and ducking past him into her dorm room. She had told Raynor that their hook up would be their little secret and she meant for it to stay that way. There was no point in telling anyone else about it anyway, since it wasn't like it was ever going to happen again, right? Sure, it had been a good time, but whispers were the commander wasn't actually in the market for a girlfriend. Especially not one from another universe. She couldn't just cross over into his reality any more than she could trick the Nexus into sending him into hers or even just bringing him into this dorm setup. It could never work between them, better to just forget all about it.

Now if only it could actually be that easy. Because of course the very next battle call had her on a team with both Raynor and two of the Protoss, Tassadar and Artanis. Almost as if the Nexus was mocking her, though of course that was impossible.

“It is good to fight beside you once more, my friends,” Tyrael said to them all.

“Well, this should be fun,” Raynor added. “At least it isn't Towers of Doom again. I've seen enough pumpkin sappers to last me a good long while.”

“Hate to break it to ya, cowboy,” Hana said, stepping down beside him, “but this is Haunted Mines. There are sapper mercs on this map, too.”

“Some days, I think you were brought to the Nexus just to give me a hard time, little lady.”

The same sort of teasing as always. Granted, keeping their liaison a secret had been her idea, but somehow she hadn't expected him to go back to acting like nothing had happened this quickly. Had it been longer for him? The Nexus was unpredictable like that, he could easily have been called into one, two, even ten matches in the time since their last one. Maybe that was it....

“Tyrael, you and Artanis take the south. Raynor and I shall take the north. Miss D.va, choose the lane you wish?”

“Am I the only one who doesn't know this zone? Tass, are you sure I'm actually a veteran?”

“Oh you're tagged a senior operative all right, cowboy,” she chimed in, steering her mech for the north gate. “The zone gimmick isn't all that different from the Garden of Terror, as far as, when the mines open, we take out the skeletons in them to power up our bone golem that'll then attack the other team's fortifications. If we can capture a merc camp or two right before the mines open, I'm all for it, by the way.”

 _“We shall have to be vigilant,”_ Tyrael said over the comm line, his dot already at the southern gate. _“This first round will likely tell us much of our opponents' intended tactics.”_

Hana watched as the match began in earnest. It didn't take her all that long to see what others had seen: Raynor and Tassadar had a definite chemistry. They moved almost like a single unit, she'd never seen the commander pair that well with another ally. He was great to have any time, but seeing the two of them together....

 _Don't even know what you were expecting, girl,_ she scolded herself. _He's twice your age anyway._

A private message flickered across her screen: _You still want him?_

There was nothing to tell her who had sent the message and she didn't feel like taking chances in the middle of a match. This zone had no overt technology to speak of, but there was still enough lurking under the facade for the Nexus to function just fine. And an unsigned message could have come from anywhere.

Then another appeared beneath the first: _It seems we need to talk. Ask the Nexus for a hold._

“You know, that only works if we win,” she muttered under her breath.

_“I don't intend to lose, do you?”_

Hana glanced up, but Tassadar's back was turned towards her once more. Was she supposed to believe the earlier messages had come from him, then? Was that possible? Protoss were experts at using their psionic abilities to manipulate technology, but she had always thought that ability was limited to their own tech. Maybe she was wrong? Maybe the only way she was ever going to find out was if she asked for that break. A huff and she put in the request. At worst, she'd get a break after her next match instead of this one.

~*~*~

James Raynor had a nice up close and personal view of the collapse of the other team's core. Which then became an up close and personal view of the enemy fortifications going dark and the opposing team zoning out, something he almost never actually witnessed. By now, though, he knew what that meant.

“Tass....”

 _“Return to base,”_ the templar said on the team channel, to Raynor's genuine surprise. _“A meal awaits, though it still is not steak.”_

Raynor was further surprised to see Artanis, not Tassadar, waiting for him when he stepped down from the hearthstone court, popping open the seals on his helmet.

“What is this, a team bonding exercise? Cuz I'm pretty sure that's not how the Nexus works,” he huffed.

“Lord Tassadar, _may his name be revered for all time_ , thought I might be able to help,” the templar said with the Protoss equivalent of a shrug.

“... every time I think you might be over that....”

“Over what? What's going on?”

D.va. Of course she would hearth in just then. He almost envied the easy way she slipped out of her mech, trying not to stare as she stepped past him. The amusement he sensed from Tassadar told him he wasn't as successful at that as he would have liked. Dammit. But it wasn't his fault. She was nineteen and nubile and that mech suit left virtually nothing to the imagination and dammit, he hadn't gotten _that_ old yet. Not that he actually needed imagination to picture her naked.

The light tapping on his armor reminded him what he was supposed to have been doing. A low huff and he hauled himself up through his opened helmet, accepting Artanis' help with a small nod. D.va was standing in the next room, apparently having decided to wait for them. And an explanation, too, he was sure. Raynor glanced over at Artanis, but the templar had his back turned to them, in the process of removing most of his own combat armor. From Tassadar came confirmation that this was deliberate, something the elder templar had done as well to try to make D.va feel less intimidated by them. Not that Raynor really thought that was going to be a problem, but....

“So ... gonna tell me what the deal is, Commander, or do I have to just guess?”

“Well, apparently we're starting with some sort of meal,” he said, closing his eyes a moment before turning towards where Tassadar was waiting for them. “And then ... I guess we find out together.”

“... I thought you'd never done this zone, how do you know where to go?” D.va asked even as she hurried to catch up with him.

“Tass wasn't here,” he said, shrugging. “Only reason I can think of for that is he's setting up the food. Really hope this time there's beer.”

“So is this something you guys do a lot, taking extended breaks after matches even though you're all from the same 'verse?”

“But not from the same time,” Artanis' personal comm box said, the young templar easily catching up with them. “Their future is my past, or at least it was. The templar I was at the time the Nexus found these two would not have tolerated allying with humans. I ... was still quite young then.”

“War turns days into months and years into lifetimes,” Tyrael said and Raynor silently cursed for having forgotten the angel's blip had _also_ still been on his HUD earlier. “Be easy, friend Raynor, I am only here to ensure the Nexus does not interrupt, I have no part in your conversations. When you are ready to depart, I will be here.”

A slight bow and the angel floated serenely away.

“Is it just me or does anyone else find that ... kinda creepy?” D.va said, following the angel's path with her eyes.

“They're angels,” he said with a shrug, gently steering her over to a generous trestle table, laden with too much food for just the two of them. “Tass....”

“Please, sit and enjoy.”

Raynor swallowed a heavy sigh, picking out a seat before helping himself. Roasted meats and vegetables, something that looked like mashed potato but probably wasn't, something else that reminded him of jello (and probably also wasn't), and something that he really hoped was a fruit pie. It was probably period-accurate (ish) to the zone, but that didn't make him feel much better about his options. On the other hand, the stein at his plate held a malt-y, foamy, if a little warm, beer. He would take it.

“So,” D.va said as she settled into her own place, “I'm still curious what's going on. Not that I'm going to turn down a free meal, but I kinda get the impression that this isn't about food. Or team building.”

“To be perfectly blunt, it is about Raynor,” Artanis said as he took a seat across the table from them. “And your interest in ... how do you put it ... his ass?”

Raynor sputtered and coughed as he nearly choked on his beer. It helped nothing that D.va had gone redder than a tomato while the two Protoss remained their usual stoically impassive selves.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Artanis,” he coughed.

“Is that not the right phrase?” the young templar asked and for a fleeting moment, Raynor was tempted to throttle him for that attempt at innocence. 

“No,” he said firmly. “No, it is not. And stop acting like you don't know anything about humans when _you_ were the one to remind me how used to us you've gotten in the apparent years since we first met.”

“Uh, no offense, but what does any of this have to do with either of you anyway?” D.va asked, using a baguette to indicate their two Protoss companions.

“Lord Tassadar,” and Raynor had to bite his lip at the noticeable (to him, anyway) pause as Artanis' box cut out for a moment, “and James Raynor are of one heart. This is known to the Khala. But of us, I have more experience with humans, albeit Koprulu sector humans of the 25th century, by your reckoning.”

“Not sure what any of that means, but it sounds kinda serious. And fishy. Like seriously fishy. Jimmy?”

“Tass and I are...,” he started, but words failed him. None of the ones coming to mind felt quite right to explain how he felt.

“We are bonded soulmates, for lack of a better term in your language,” Tassadar said with the same cool precision he used in issuing orders or commenting on a battleground. Raynor couldn't decide if that sounded better or worse than the things he had been thinking.

“Soulmates....” D.va's expression was closed, a blank mask that showed nothing of the turmoil she _had_ to be feeling. “Is that why you suggested I ask for this break? So you could humiliate me?”

“Hana....”

Raynor reached for her, but of course Tassadar was faster, easily catching the young woman and lifting her off her feet.

“You are young and passionate, quick in body and mind, but you are not a telepath and that makes this difficult. I do not wish to hurt you, but you must _listen_ when we speak. No one is looking to humiliate you. _Talandar_....”

“Hana, please. I didn't tell you about me and Tass, because ... because a lot of reasons, really. You didn't ask, I didn't think it was going to matter. As far as I knew, it was just a one time thing between us and trying to explain ... this isn't exactly easy or natural for me, okay?”

“Oh, but taking advantage of me, that was easy?” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “Oh look at cute little Song Han-Ah, practically worships the ground Commander James Fucking Raynor walks like some hopeless little fangirl. Bet you had a good laugh together after that match, didn't you??”

“If you think that's something I'd do, you don't know a damn thing about me. _Or_ the Protoss.”

“I know more than you think, Mister James Fucking Raynor,” she snarled. “Confederate farm boy Marine turned outlaw, Dominion stooge, sucker and hopeless cowboy romantic. You let yourself get used so damn easy. By Vanderspool, by Tychus, by O'Banon, by Mengsk. I'm amazed you had the brains to break away from Arcturus, even _with_ him feeding your stupid girlfriend to the Zerg!”

In a flash, Artanis ripped D.va from Tassadar's more gentle hands, holding her up by the throat well clear of the floor and even shaking her twice.

“You speak of these things as if you know anything about them, but I assure you, you do not! You know _nothing_ but bare facts, a profile compiled of emotionless words. Until you have tasted the guilt he wears like a second skin, you have _no right_ to stand in judgment!”

“Artanis! You are supposed to be helping, not choking a mere child.”

Artanis relented, setting her down and stepping away, but Raynor could still read the anger in him, crackling like a live wire just under the surface. The outrage was almost comforting ... but not useful. Worse, Raynor wasn't sure how to recover things from the damage his friend had done.

“I am not a child,” D.va coughed, rubbing her throat.

“That's the translator,” Raynor said before either templar could comment, offering her a stein of water. “The Khalani word is closer to 'fledgling who has not yet tasted of battle' but that's kind of a mouthful. And not entirely accurate, but novitiate isn't any better, so....”

“... since when do you speak Khalani? That's not in your skill tree or profiles,” the teen asked, carefully sipping her water and frowning at him.

“I don't,” he agreed, coaxing her back over to the table. “Up until Tass and I ... up until this Nexus business, I only ever heard the Protoss like you do, through their tech. I'm not a telepath, but I've got enough latent psi ability to receive just fine. Part of Tass's ... courting? Has been building a telepathic bond with me. This is the most I've heard from his comm box in months. I'm not bonded enough to sense the Khala, not yet anyway, but I can sense _him_ at the edge of my mind all the time, at least when we're in the same zone. When there's an actual, focused conversation between us, I get a bit of both English and Khalani, especially if it's something he's having trouble translating into our clumsy, basic language. And yes, that means he's called _me_ a mere child, too. Which probably sounds creepy, but then Protoss live for hundreds of years, so....”

“So ... what, your alien boyfriend wasn't enough, so you decided to have a go at me?”

“Hey now, you're the one who came on to me, remember?” he countered, halfway waiting for her to throw something at him. She didn't disappoint.

“You didn't have to reciprocate, you jerk!” she yelled, tossing a small round of cheese at his head. “What the hell??”

“And this is why I asked you to stay, young one,” Tassadar said. Raynor could have sworn he heard amusement in the older templar's words even through the comm box.

“Look, I'm not sorry for what we did, if you want someone to blame, as far as I knew, he was single and he didn't do a damn thing to say otherwise.”

“Tass, I told you before, I'm fine. It was fun and all, but I really am fine.”

The two Protoss shared a look and he could only imagine what they were saying to each other. No, scratch that, he wasn't sure he actually could imagine it. He recognized the way Artanis moved, the ripple in his energy that was the Protoss version of a sigh. Artanis picked up a piece of meat for a moment, then shook his head.

“So inefficient,” he said, setting it back down even as he moved to sit down again himself.

“Yeah, well, we're not plants like you guys,” Raynor grumbled, snagging the chunk of roast beast and taking a bite. He'd had better, but he'd also had a lot worse.

“Plants?” D.va echoed, giving him a perplexed look.

“I thought you were the multiverse expert, knowing all about all of us here in the Nexus,” Jim said, quirking an eyebrow at her. “You sure know a hell of a lot about me ... but don't know how the Protoss biology works at all? Or should I say botany....”

“Oh, well, um ... I guess I hadn't thought about it?” she confessed, blushing a little. “It's not like it's something that came up in the canon? I mean, feeding the troops was only vaguely part of the game mechanics, so.... Liquid diet maybe?”

“No mouths,” he countered, smirking.

“Oh is that why you almost lost it at just a little oral? You poor, neglected dear,” D.va said in such a sugary coo it made his skin twitch. Her eye roll at the end didn't help.

“ _Apparently_ ,” he huffed, “perfection of form includes the ability to transform light energy into chemical energy. Personally, I think the Xel'naga were nuts, vastly underestimating the power of a perfectly prepared cut of beef and a nice cold beer.”

“Not my point, my friend,” Artanis interjected with another sort-of-not-really sigh in his voice. “Sometimes I think you humans delight in wandering off onto tangents. Like children.

“Well, we _are_ a curious species by nature,” Raynor said with a relaxed shrug of his shoulders.

“And apparently all children,” D.va added with a mutter.

“The _point_ is that the Firstborn do not do things the way humans do. Surely you have been among us long enough now to understand that much, my friend.”

“Well ... sort of? Look, the child thing isn't all wrong. As a species, we don't exactly have a lot of experience with anything beyond ourselves. And don't tell me it's different in your home verse, D.va, cuz I won't believe it. Humans have _thought_ a lot about aliens over the centuries, but ... we're not as tolerant of differences as we like to tell ourselves. It takes a lot for us to see things other than how we expect them to be. And what we expect is, well, ourselves, really.”

Tassadar's touch strengthened in his mind, a neural tendril curling about his wrist briefly.

“You are still young, there is much stumbling when one is still learning to walk,” the elder templar said softly.

“Okay, fine, yes, we're a bunch of babbling toddlers compared to the oh so wise Protoss Empire. Your point?”

“Her fire is well matched to yours, friend Raynor. It is unfortunate her mind is empty to us!”

“Wrong word, wrong word!” Raynor scrambled to say, picking up the intention through his link with Tassadar, but it was too late.

“Empty? Empty?! I'll show you –.”

D.va's tirade cut off abruptly as she crumpled to the floor with a whimper. It was a response Raynor recognized a little too well.

“What the hell?!” he demanded, but before he could say anything more, Tassadar had moved to kneel beside D.va, his large hand almost completely covering her small frame. Following the templar's example, Raynor crouched down beside her, brushing a hand along her arm. At least she wasn't shaking, it had been a single spike then, rather than an ongoing assault.

A beat, perhaps less, and he felt himself being pulled into a telepathic loop with both Tassadar and D.va, wincing at the sympathetic pain slicing through his temples in response. He squeezed his eyes tight shut a moment, reminding himself that it wasn't real. It faded and he turned his attention back to her.

“Breathe, Hana,” he said softly, slowly rubbing her spine. “Just breathe with me, okay? In. And out. In. And out. That's it, just like that.”

He kept talking her through the simple breathing exercise until she was through the worst of the pain, then helped her sit up. Yet instead of helping her back to the table, he kept her in his lap, offering soft words of comfort as he settled her against his chest. She leaned into him without question, fingers curling into his shirt.

“It's all right, baby girl, he won't do that again, _will he?_ ”

Even though it wasn't directed at her, she still winced at his aggression. Artanis at least had the grace to look and feel genuinely apologetic, keeping his distance for the moment.

“W-what ... what happened?”

“We Firstborn can telepathically penetrate the mind of any human, but while your species, as a whole, is biologically capable of telepathy, individually there is still wide variance. You do not possess enough of even a latent talent to receive without pain. A point young Artanis was needlessly inelegant in making. It is a ... limitation.”

“Then how ... I ... I'm feeling ... both of you?”

“Touch telepathy is less invasive, though it can still cause pain,” Tassadar explained. “What you are sensing now is the edge of my bond with Raynor. I needed him to reassure you, to reach you. It is not the telepathy we use most often with others, especially those who are not of the Khala. Among our kind, the touch of neural tendrils is seen as too intimate a contact for all but those to whom we are closest. Our touchless union through the Khala still allows us to maintain certain barriers that touch erases. As Raynor can attest.”

Nodding in agreement, he watched as D.va shifted in his lap, hesitant fingers hovering over the neural tendrils that lay loosely looped around her neck, her mech suit torn open to expose pale skin. Tassadar had been as considerate of human sensibilities as he could be, but one wiggle the wrong way and her suit would fall open entirely to the waist, exposing her chest completely. And while he was the only one present likely to see anything even remotely sexual in it....

“Um, maybe a –.”

He hadn't even finished forming the question in his own mind when Artanis draped a light blanket over the both of them, careful not to actually touch either of them. Too careful. It was a strangeness he would have to ask the templar about later, however. For the moment, his priorities lie elsewhere.

“Perhaps I should go,” the younger templar said softly.

“I thought you were here to better explain Protoss culture to me?” D.va asked, her words slightly muffled as she rearranged the blanket. “Cuz I gotta say, you haven't exactly done that. I mean unless you want me to think Protoss culture is choking women and children, which is total bullshit anyway.”

“You should definitely keep this one, friend Raynor, she suits you.”

“Artanis, go the fuck home,” Raynor growled, putting more menace into his tone than he actually felt and hoping like hell his friend would understand. For better or worse, Artanis didn't comment further, instead giving them a jaunty salute before walking out of the room.

“And you say he knows humans _best_ between the four of you?” D.va huffed.

“In theory, at least,” Tassadar said, a trace of humor in his words. “This one is more mature than the one I left behind, but he is still young and impulsive. And fiercely protective of Raynor, as you have seen.”

“Yeah. No offense, cowboy, but if I didn't know better, I'd think _he_ was your alien boyfriend, the way he acts,” D.va said, shaking her head a little. That was an entire _bucket_ of worms Raynor was just as happy to ignore completely. Having one Protoss lover was hard enough on his brain sometimes, he didn't want to think about what he would do with two of them. Especially one he almost never got to see.

 _:He would not say no, but he respects your limits too much to ever ask such a thing of you,_ talandar _.:_

“I wasn't asking, Tass,” he mumbled, annoyed at the heat he could feel in his cheeks.

“Oh come on, don't vocalize a response to his private stuff unless you _want_ me asking for details, that's just rude,” D.va grumbled, though it didn't feel entirely genuine.

“The loyalty of the Firstborn is inclusive, not exclusive,” Tassadar said simply.

“... meaning?” she asked.

“He means he'd already given his blessing, so to speak, before you and I hooked up. You remember Rosa's comment when we zoned in?”

“About your readings being off? Yeah, what of it?”

“They were off because not four hours before the call, Tass decided to make it explicitly clear that he was okay with me finding a girlfriend or even just a casual fling among the women of the Nexus. In full detail.”

“Uh ... how detailed?”

“He's a telepath, one of the strongest of the Khalai. Complete detail. At this point, I try very hard not to remember the details anymore so I don't get my ass kicked if and when one or more of you finds out. He's not always so helpful with that.”

“It is only fantasy,” Tassadar said with a Protoss shrug. “No one is being hurt, why should it matter?”

“So ... what, he's fed you virtual porn of ... you and me having sex together? He can do that?”

“Well ... yeah,” Raynor said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “Tass is templar caste, so a warrior first, but he's also a scholar and a scientist and I'm going to shut up now because anything more I say is just going to make things worse.”

He could feel it coming just before D.va jerked out of his lap, clear of Tassadar's tendrils. The templar _had_ to have sensed the slap coming and yet he simply absorbed the blow in stoic silence colored in confusion. The movement was enough for D.va's mech suit to fall open and she quickly snatched up the blanket, wrapping it around herself in obvious hurt and anger.

“You ... you're supposed to be this ... this great and honorable hero of the Protoss, savior of the Koprulu sector, but you're just ... you're just...!!”

“An alien. With no relevant frame of reference for why you would feel wronged.”

“Don't you defend him! You should have stopped him!” she protested, and even without true telepathy, Raynor could feel the hurt and betrayal radiating off of her.

“A telepathic exchange ... it isn't like this conversation we're having now, not unless both parties slow it down deliberately, and even then, it'll speed up again eventually, it can't be helped,” Raynor countered with a shake of his head. “Telepathy moves at the speed of thought, in a dozen channels of parallel depths. An entire scenario spun out in the blink of an eye, less. In less time than it takes to say your name, a skilled telepath could show me a detailed history of your life, with video, audio, and every other sense channel combined. I ... I don't know how better to explain it, words aren't good enough, but they're all I have.”

“Well you better _find_ a way, cowboy, because I swear to fucking _God_ , James Fucking Raynor....”

Casting a helpless glance at Tassadar, he was surprised by the heavy sigh. The templar settled himself on the floor, joints bending in alien angles, then held a hand out to D.va. When she didn't move, his eyes flared briefly.

“If you want to understand, little human, then come here. It will be painful, but I am made to think that you humans only truly learn things through pain.”

Another beat of hesitation and then D.va visibly gathered herself and stepped closer. Raynor watched as Tassadar so carefully cupped her face, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. The link between them flared even stronger, he could feel the pain building behind D.va's eyes even as he sensed Tassadar showing her a hundred memories of Aiur at once. She cried out, squeezing her eyes shut, but it didn't stop anything as he shifted to the burning of Mar Sara.

A breath, less, and it was done, the moment past. D.va had crumpled against the templar, whimpering with pain that was both physical and mental. Raynor felt himself pulled closer, crouching down beside them once more. D.va's mech suit had torn open even further, he scolded himself not to look when she turned and flung herself at him, instead curling his arms around her shoulders.

“I'm sorry. Oh God, Jimmy, I'm sorry,” she mumbled as she clung to him. “I thought I knew, but he was right. He was right, it was just words, I didn't ... all those people....”

“Now you understand why it is ... difficult for me to share a battlefield with any of them. Even though all of them arose _after_ our present, they all share in the blame, even Kerrigan. Perhaps especially Kerrigan,” the templar said quietly.

“What? No, don't tell me, I don't think I want to know,” Raynor mumbled.

“No, I ... that part I think I understood even before,” D.va said, shuddering and somehow leaning closer to both of them at the same time. “But I just ... so much death.... How...?”

“There was no other way forward, it had to be done for the greater good. But it is a weight I will always carry with me,” Tassadar said with soft regret. Raynor really wasn't sure where to go from here. It didn't help that he still wasn't quite sure he knew what Tassadar's agenda for this meeting even was. He didn't want to send D.va home yet, not like this, but he didn't know how much longer they could stay, either.

“Friend Tassadar....”

He suppressed a growl at the way D.va flinched at Tyrael's intrusion. She was probably still sensitive from the telepathic bombardment and being half naked under a blanket probably didn't help, either, even though Tyrael was quite possibly the least sexual being in the whole of the Nexus.

“Perhaps Miss Song should return with you? The Nexus is impatient to have this zone back.”

“... that's gotta be some sort of first....”

“Can ... can you really do that? Send me back somewhere besides the dorm?”

“ _Gantrithor_ is within the Nexus' demesne, so yes. Your hold is linked to theirs, you will not be disturbed until that expires.

“Which is...?” Raynor asked, but Tyrael only shrugged, wings rippling even more. Right, time was a complicated matter in the Nexus.

“It will last long enough for our needs,” Tassadar said with a hidden smile. Raynor wondered what exactly that meant, but this wasn't really the time or place to ask, so he let it go.

“Okay, fine, but next time I want that steak, dammit, Tass,” he grumbled in feigned frustration. “Thanks for the help, Tyr.”

“Anytime, my friends. Go with the blessings of the Light.”

Raynor closed his eyes against the all too familiar wrenching that was unique to zoning in and out of combat areas. Unlike the automated returns, he did not find himself back in his armor, though D.va's mech suit had been fully restored. His armor sat parked in its dock, Tassadar's armor piled neatly beside it with the templar adding the few remaining pieces to the pile as well. Something tingled through his nerves as he caught himself watching the executor - he rarely saw the templar completely without his armor.

“S- ... um ... sir, what...?”

“What, you gonna tell me stripping out of combat gear _isn't_ the first thing you do after the Nexus sends you home?” he asked, suiting actions to words and pulling off his own sweat-stained shirt. Walking over to his dresser, he pulled out a change of clothes plus an extra shirt.

“I don't know about you, but I'm hittin' the head. You're welcome to share if you want. Or not. Your choice.”

Tapping the extra shirt on the dresser to call her attention to it, he then bundled up his own change of clothes and stepped into his en suite, smiling a little at the familiarity of Tassadar practically crowding in behind him. The stateroom he called home these days had been adjusted for his smaller-than-Protoss-average size, but nowhere was that more obvious than in the head.

He had to bite back a laugh at D.va's startled squeak a moment later, though.

“Problem, darlin'?”

“Uh, kinda cramped in here.”

“Yeah, well, compared to what I'm used to? It's heaven. This stateroom is better than the admiral's berth on _Hyperion_. Considering the khalai had to squeeze in both an armor docking port and a full head, I'm plenty happy. You shoulda seen Rosa the first time she saw hers. Tears. Turn around and I'll do your back.”

D.va flushed a pretty pink that nearly matched the detailing on her mech suit. A subtle reminder that nearly five hundred years had passed between her time and his; she might have been quasi-military back in her time, but it wouldn't have been anything like his own military experience.

“Seriously, Hana, relax. It's just a shower, not anything I haven't seen, but if you're not comfortable, we'll be out in a couple more minutes, it's fine to wait.

With a huff and a stomp of her foot, D.va started peeling off her mech suit. Through the touch of cool skin to his, Raynor could feel Tassadar's amusement, even shared in it, but he still turned his back to her as he resumed showering. Even with the extended delay between the end of combat and this shower, the massaging jets of warm water felt like bliss. Another half turn and he started washing Tassadar's cool grey skin, trying to stay efficient, clinical, rather than the slow lingering a part of him really would have preferred. He wasn't going to think about why or when the change has happened. It wasn't important, especially not right now.

D.va felt oddly shy, hesitant as she touched his back, tracing one of his older scars.

“Um, do you...?”

“I'm pretty well clean, if you want to get Tass's back?”

He wasn't quite sure what to make of her response to that suggestion. Though he wasn't surprised to see her more or less ignoring it in favor of washing herself. Just fine with him, though he could also feel Tassadar's amusement at it.

_:So possessive, little human.:_

The templar's thoughts turned decidedly pornographic and Raynor groaned, leaning against him with his eyes closed. Utterly unfair.

“Dammit, Tass,” he mumbled. “Why?”

_:I have neglected your needs.:_

“Okay, maybe, but why _right now_?” he grumbled, even though he wasn't really _angry_ per se. Amusement and lust shimmered in the templar's sending, along with a flash of Raynor and D.va coupling in the shower. It was very much not helpful. Especially when a worried D.va touched his shoulder a moment later.

“Commander?”

“We're not in combat, Hana, you can call me Jimmy,” he groaned, giving Tassadar a useless shove. The crisp visuals stopped, but the underlying desire to share in Raynor's pleasure still burned brightly between them. Asshole. These were the moments he found himself questioning his own sanity, falling in love with an alien.

“A-are you ... o-oh,” D.va stammered, backing away from them. “I-I'll, um, I-I'm d-done anyway....”

Another step backwards and she collided with the compartment door. Raynor frowned at Tassadar, intending to swat him and tell him to let her go, only to find he couldn't move or speak. Tassadar had too firm a grip on his mind, he could only watch as the templar reached out and drew D.va closer. The girl flinched and Raynor swallowed back a sigh. So much for Tassadar's intention not to hurt her any further. But perhaps this way was better....

~*~*~

Hana felt anger joining her embarrassed flush as her back collided with the apparently sealed compartment door. Why the hell was she even here? So they could rub her nose in it some more? She hadn't thought either of them were the type. Then again, she wouldn't have pegged Tassadar as a common pervert before, either. Clearly her ability to judge such things was flawed.

Tassadar's hand brushed her shoulder, then cool-slick tendrils, silken smooth, momentarily coiled about her wrists. Flashes of a thousand tentacle porn cliches flickered through her mind, followed by a hot wave of shame. She could _feel_ Tassadar at the edges of her mind, cool and alien and calm and curious and energized all at once.

_:You. And Jim. Are good. For each other.:_

The slow pace of each word, each phrase, felt oddly deliberate. A dull ache was threatening to re-form behind her eyes and she squeezed them shut, lightly rubbing them with her fingers. A memory of her night with Raynor appeared behind her eyes, only it wasn't  _her_ memory, it was his. And not just a visual memory, either, she could _feel_ it, as if she had been in his place, in his skin. When the memory passed, she felt a trace of regret from Tassadar that he could only simulate such an encounter for his lover. Or else invite someone like her to join them.

“J-join?” she stammered, eyes darting over to where Raynor stood, unashamed of his nudity even with an obvious erection. Another tendril moved over her skin, another flash of half-remembered anime. Shame coursed through her as she felt Tassadar following that flicker back into the archive of her mind, in an instant learning all about that second summer and a secret quest to understand that had led to an embarrassing amount of hentai being watched ... and more questions than answers. She could feel his eyes burning into her as, quicker than words, he rabbit-trailed through her mind to a depth she had never experienced, sniffing out every aspect of her still-forming sexual identity. Hana cringed and whimpered at having all her intimate secrets exposed to someone she barely knew, someone she had just been silently accusing of being a common pervert a moment ago.

Phantom lips pressed a kiss to her forehead, somehow easing the ache she felt there. 

_:You must choose.:_

Choose? Choose what? From the way Raynor had described it, she had expected telepathy to be less confusing than this.

“He's limiting himself so he doesn't hurt you as much.”

Speak of the devil....

“So, what, I get telepath-lite?”

“It's either that or a raging migraine on steroids,” Raynor said, shrugging slightly. “If you're not interested....”

“Don't even, cowboy,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Not saying you have to make a permanent, binding choice, Hana. You can stay now, leave later. You can pass now and try another time, with or without him. The choice is yours.”

_:If you choose to stay, what we do is private, even from the Khala, even right now.:_

Another shiver. That's right, they were back on Tassadar's flagship, surrounded by hundreds or maybe even thousands of Protoss, all joined by the Khala. Not that she could sense any of that right now, but ... it was still there, that link between all Protoss of the Khala....

_:Only what I allow them to know. You and Raynor are not part of the Khala, you are protected.:_

He'd said something like that before, hadn't he? It fit with the lore she had learned in the past, such as _that_ was - all Protoss of Aiur were joined through the Khala, but each individual had a right to a certain amount of privacy. What was private was private, no one would press. Well, not without really good reason and especially not against the Lord Executor of the fleet, removed from any nosy Judicators of the Conclave who might question him.

“I'm sure he's already said it, but whatever you choose ... you'll get no judgment, okay? You can call me cowboy all you like, but I'm more than just some backwater jarhead, okay?”

“Yeah, I ... kinda noticed ... Daddy,” she said, immediately biting her lip as another wave of fear and shame darted through her. Raynor finally moved, walking over to her and tilting her chin up to brush a kiss to her lips. Another shiver, but this one tingled with excitement ... and the first traces of desire.

_:Will you join with us?:_

The question felt slightly ridiculous, especially with the way her body was insisting on pressing up against Raynor's toned muscles. God, the man was gorgeous, it was a wonder he didn't have half the women of the Nexus chasing after him. And she got to have him? She wasn't idiot enough to pass on that.

One of Tassadar's neural tendrils moved and again she flashed to those stupid tentacle hentai. Why in the name of God had she ever let herself get sucked down _that_ rabbit hole? It had been ridiculous then, it was no less stupid now, and if her brain didn't stop, it was going to ruin everything.

“... a giant squid? Really??”

Hana fervently wished the decking would open up and just swallow her whole. Ruined. But from behind her there was only amusement lightly threaded with pleasure and desire. And from Raynor....

“Hey now, if that's what gets your motor running....”

“What?! No, I...! It was just something ... oh forget it,” she sighed, trying to pull back. The arms around her waist tightened, holding her in place. Between that and Tassadar's bulk behind her, there was no way to escape. Raynor tilted her chin up, pressing another kiss to her lips.

“Context, baby girl. I get it. Well ... I get why the comparison, at any rate. But that isn't what he does with them, okay? Tass....”

She could feel him wordlessly offering to explore the idea on one hand while offering to show her how Protoss actually shared pleasure on the other. Greedily, her first impulse was for both and she blushed almost as soon as she thought it.

_:In time, perhaps.:_

Cool hands that felt far too large for her small body brushed against her skin, just enough to keep her connected. She wasn't blind to the templar's greater interest in Raynor, but considering that was where her real interest lay as well....

“You know you don't have to do this, D.va”

That had to be one of the more ridiculous things she'd heard him say. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand down between her thighs.

“Doesn't Daddy want his baby girl anymore?” she asked, playing up the breathless and needy angle as she wiggled closer. The addition of Tassadar would be ... interesting, but at the moment she didn't really know how to interact with him, like, at _all_. Raynor, on the other hand.... She slid one hand down his chest, fingers tracing lower still until she could curl them around his hard cock. A little smile as she remembered just how good he'd felt ... and how much _he'd_ enjoyed it, too.

The shower finally switched off entirely at the same time Hana dropped to her knees. It wasn't her idea of the best place to be giving a blowjob, but as a place for just a bit of foreplay, it would do well enough. Raynor certainly tasted better this time, clean skin with just a hint of soap, as she licked up and down his shaft a few times before closing her mouth around the head. Hana couldn't help a smile and a pleased purr at his appreciative groan, the way his fingers clenched in her hair. A girl did like to know her talents were appreciated, even if she wasn't very confident in her skills. Maybe especially then, really. And at least Jim was gentle with her, letting her set her own pace instead of pushing for more. The boys she had practiced her technique on before had always been more demanding, greedy and impatient to get their own pleasure, but maybe that was an age thing? Or Tassadar's influence. Or both.

Hana gasped, nearly choking as something cold and hard rubbed against her sex. She leaned back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she glanced down, but whatever was touching her, it was doing it in a way that she couldn't really see what it was. A glance up showed her Tassadar and Raynor, foreheads pressed together and eyes closed. Was that how Protoss made love, entirely in the mind? Raynor's cock twitched, pre-cum dribbling from the tip; not entirely in the mind, or at least not with his human lover at any rate. Something metal hit the decking with a soft clink. A tendril slithered up the inside of her thigh, the psychic link bringing fresh understanding and a wordless question.

“Yes!” she gasped even as it began. Through Tassadar, she could feel both of them, desire and hunger and pleasure like she had never felt before in her life. Raynor's weathered hands on her breasts and those damn tendrils seeming everywhere at once, burning with sexual energy. One rubbed against her clit while another steadily pushed into her pussy, rubbing against her g-spot until she came so hard she couldn't even breathe.

“Oh fuck,” she gasped, her whole body tingling as Raynor scooped her up into his powerful arms and carried her back into the main compartment. 

“Oh fuck you bastard,” she repeated, clinging to him with a noise not entirely unlike a whimper.

“Problem, baby girl?” he asked and oh but she wanted to strangle him for that wicked little smirk he was wearing right then. Asshole.

“I think you've ruined me for anyone else. How the fuck is anyone supposed to compare to that?” she whimpered, pressing into his chest as she just breathed for another moment.

“Oh it gets better,” he promised, laying her down on a bed that was far too soft and welcoming for standard military issue.

“Better?”

“Mm-hmm, you've given him all kinds of ideas now,” Jim said, leaning over her. “Or are you done now, can't take anymore?”

“You ass, you just wait ...,” but even as she was saying it, she could feel energy tinged with desire flowing into her. Grabbing Raynor by the shoulders, she pulled herself up and kissed him, hard.

“He's such a cheat,” the commander mumbled against her lips, one of his hands moving between her thighs.

“Stop complaining and show me what you've got, cowboy.”

Another hungry kiss as he moved to position himself. She could feel the head of his dick rubbing against her pussy and groaned, hips rocking up to try to force him into her. He growled, nipping at her lips, her neck, but still only teasing her.

“Jimmmmyyyyyyy,” she whined, rocking against him even more.

“Patience, baby girl,” he countered, taking his time, teasing her until she thought he was never going to do anything more. And when he finally thrust into her, he was right, it felt so much better, she was already cumming again with just a couple of thrusts. Only he didn't stop or even pause and the pleasure kept building, echoing between all three of them. A flicker of guilt that she had almost forgotten Tassadar was there, but she could feel him now, a phantom touch that was everywhere at once. Hana could feel a third climax building, she gave herself over to the pleasure these two were giving her, losing herself completely in the moment.

“Oh cowboy,” she hummed when she finally came down, “I hope you know I'm keeping you now.”

“As long as you know it's a package deal.”

“Details,” she mumbled, rolling over to nestle into his side. Sure it was only temporary, only as long as the Nexus held them, maybe less, but she'd take what she could get.


End file.
